Justin Darlington The Dunk Master

Nicknamed Jus Fly, Justin Darlington is a legend when it comes to dunking. He comes from Canada and since his schooldays he’s been great at vert jumping. Everyone in his native Ajax, Ontario thought he’s going to become a professional basketball player, but what he found most interesting about this game was jumping. In fact, according to him, nothing but dunking managed to awake his interest.

In professional basketball, vertical jumping is an important part of the game, but there are many other factors that make world-class players stand out from the rest. Blake Griffin, one of the best power forwards in NBA at the moment, is known for being great in dunking. However, his vert jumping is nowhere near as impressive as Jus Fly’s. In fact, Griffin’s 37-inch vertical seem rather pathetic when compared with Darlington’s incredible 42.3 inches!

What Makes a Good Dunker?

If you can jump high, you’re gonna be a good dunker – it’s simple as that. What’s not simple is improving your vertical jumping ability. That is why we’ve decided to look for advices from the man who won the Nike’s Best Dunker Award in 2012. World’s best dunker, Justin Darlington says that genetics have a big role in whether you can jump high or not. However, even if your parent’s couldn’t jump high, it doesn’t mean that you can’t train yourself to be a high-flying dunker. The key is in a good training routine.

In an interview that Jus Fly gave a couple of years ago, he talked about how ruthless his training workout was. Basically, he kept exercising until his legs felt too weak to continue. Still, what makes his workout regime different to others is not the intensity of it, but the type of exercises. Experience has shown him that the best way to improve jumping is jumping! For that reason, his workout is based on dunking and exercises that improve vertical jump.

Vert Shock Program

Jus Fly’s workout routine attracted the attention of many pro basketball players for being very effective in improving vert jump ability. One of those who felt impressed with these exercises was Adam Folker, a former pro basketball player. In fact, Jus Fly’s training routine was what inspired Folker to write a program dedicated to vert jump improvement, the Vert Shock program.

Folker and Darlington joined forces to come up with an ultimate training program that can bring fantastic results. According to the two, this program can bring improvements in vert jumping ability of 9 to 15 inches. Those who feel that it seems too good to be true should know that the program is not all about strength, but technique as well.
What makes Vert Shock stand out from other vertical jump workout programs is the fact that it deals with “body hacks”, which utilize the body weight and the power output in order to produce higher jumps. Of course, being a workout program, Vert Shock also comes with exercises that strengthen the jumping muscles and help burning fat.